// A mini-guide to Northern Spark 2013//

Northern Spark, the all-night art festival, the Twin Cities’ nuit blanche, is back TONIGHT for its third incarnation. This year it is exclusively happening in Lowertown St. Paul. I know, I know—St. Paul. “ALL THE WAY OVER THERE??” Yes, all the way over there. But it’s a blessing in disguise: you’ll get a completely different experience than the last two years and get to explore a part of the Twin Cities you probably don’t frequent.

Since there are a million projects and it can be overwhelming to look through them all, I’ve picked out three that you NEED to check out tonight. Write ‘em down:

1) Gossip Orchestra: Adam Conrad, Benjamin Kelly, and Max McDougal

• What? Twenty musicians in a circle—step into the circle and YOU become the conductor or composer. The conductor will have controls that will enable him/her to turn any of the musicians “on” or “off.” The composer will choose a mood, indicated by a colored light, that the selected musicians must improvise to. 
• more info: http://2013.northernspark.org/project/gossip-orchestra

2) Ghosts of the Twin Cities: Cindy Sherman Bishop and Martha Bourne

• What? Enter Studio A at Twin Cities Public Television where vintage local TV footage will be projected on the same plane as a live feed of onlookers from motion-sensitive cameras. Live music will undoubtedly make it 100x creepier.
• more info: http://2013.northernspark.org/project/ghosts-of-the-twin-cities

3) Hover: Alicia Dvorak and Mitchell Dose

• What? “A huge, mobile, interactive, bicycle-powered bat.” Yup. It’s going to be 10 feet long, 15 feet above the ground, the people running the project will steer the giant machine, but YOU will get the chance to bike the bat around, and power it’s wings and head. 
• more info: http://2013.northernspark.org/project/hover

Pro Tips:

• Bring food if you’re staying all night, and caffeine of some sort. You won’t need a full-on picnic, but granola bars and energy drinks go a long way.
• Dress warm. At 3 in the morning it’s like winter again.
• Take a nap before. So…go take a nap right now.
• DO EVERYTHING. LET THE ART OVERTAKE YOU.
• Stay all night. There’s no other way to do Northern Spark.

General festival info: northernspark.org

See you there doodz.

- Alex

// Ferris Bueller’s Day Off @ Lake Harriet Bandshell//

Movies In The Parks kicks off TONIGHT with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at the picturesque Lake Harriet Bandshell. There are benches, so no need to bring a blanket to sit on, but you’ll definitely need a blanket or two to wrap up in because it’s gonna be like 60°. And it wouldn’t hurt to bring a huge thermos of hot chocolate either. Woooo summer!

FREE // ALL AGES // Movie starts at dusk

full movie schedule: http://www.mplsmusicandmovies.com/

Lake Harriet Bandshell
4135 West Lake Harriet Parkway
Minneapolis, MN 55409

- Alex

// Witch’s Hat Tower OPEN TONIGHT ONLY//

TONIGHT (May 31st) is the ONLY NIGHT OF THE YEAR that the Witch’s Hat Tower is open to the public! You’ve definitely seen it since it sits on the highest natural land area in the city of Minneapolis, but have you been to the observation deck on the top of the tower before? Now is your chance so don’t miss it! Here’s a picture I took last year from the top:

It’s only open for three hours and a LOT of people show up, so make sure to get there early and grab some ice cream because you’ll definitely have to stand in line.

5:30 - 8:30pm 

+ live music! + food! + plant sale! + more!

more info here: http://www.pperr.org/events/icecream-social.html

Witch’s Hat Water Tower (Tower Hill Park)
Malcolm Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414 ‎

- Alex

// The Only Thing Worth Doing Tonight//

…duh, it’s THE WAKE BIRTHDAY SHOW. Y’know, the magazine run by none other than ALEX? This is about as close as it gets to a BAmpls sponsored show so you all better be there. 

FEATURING: 

- Greg Grease
- France Camp
- Blue Ruin
- Wealthy Relative 
- Kick-ass T-shirts
- A BUTTON MAKER!!!!!
- The Coolest People You Will Ever Meet (Alex & Me) 

WHERE/WHEN/HOW MUCH: 

The Triple Rock, 629 Cedar Ave
8pm
18+ 
$5 (which is basically free) 

See you tonight. 

- Beth 

P.S. It’s a weekend what’s what on some dumb website too so there’s that http://www.letoilemagazine.com/2013/03/28/weekend-whats-what-328-331/